DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

32 - parotid gland
33 - submandibular
34 - sublingual gland
35 - mouth / tongue
36 - oesophagus
37 - stomach
38 - pylorus
39 - duodenum
40 - gall bladder
41 - pancreas
42 - liver
43 - jejunum
44 - ileum
45 - small intestine
46 - colon
47 - caecum
48 - appendix
49 - sigmoid
50 - anus

MAIN BODY FUNCTION
SALIVARY GLAND The three pairs of salivary glands produce the enzyme ptyalin, required for the initial conversion of cooked starch into the form of maltose. 

STOMACH The stomach produces an enzyme, pepsin, from a combination of the enzyme pepsinogen and hydrochloric acid, for the initial conversion of protein foods.

PANCREAS, GALL BLADDER, DUODENUM The pancreas produces an enzyme, trypain, for the conversion of protein (proteose and peptones) into peptides, assisted by the gall bladder which produce bile. This takes place within the duodenum and also the conversion of fats and oils (lipids) are converted by the enzyme lipase (pancreas) plus bile into fatty acids and glycerol.

SMALL INTESTINE, LIVER, COLON In the small intestine, the enzyme amylase converts uncooked starch into maltose, plus the maltase converts maltose into glucose. Also within the small intestine, the jejunum converts peptides into amino acids; they pass into the bloodstream and go to the liver. The colon collects all the unused food materials and disposes of the waste via the rectum. 

VITAL NUTRIENTS
Calcium is essential for the involuntary muscular movements of the digesive system, termed peristaltic action. Natural foods: tahini, yoghurt, almonds, hazel nuts, sunflower seeds, dreid apricots, walnuts.

Phosphorus is required for the movement of fatty acids and phospholipids and distribution of fats. Natural foods: pepitas, sunflower seeds, tahini,  Brazil  nuts, cashews, garlic.

Sodium stimulates the production of carbohydrate digestive enzymes such as saliva. Natural foods: celery, olives, spinach, cheese, eggs, beetroot, carrots, pears.

Sulphur keeps the digestive system clean, for pancreatic enzymes, insulin and protein digestion. Natural foods: Brazil nuts, scallops, crustacea, garlic, onions, spinach.

Chlorine is essential for the production of the protein enzyme pepsin in the stomach. Natural foods: tomato, celery, lettuce, cabbage, papaya, radish.

Magnesium ingredient of enzymes for protein and carbohydrate digestion and glucose conversion. Natural foods: Brazil nuts, tahini, pepitas, almonds, cashews, bananas.

Manganese production of bile, insulin and essential for metabolism. Natural foods: wheatgerm, hazel nuts, nuts, oats, garlic, seeds, apples.

Copper protein metabolism, enzyme component. Natural foods: tahini, sunflower seeds, cashews.

Iodine thyroid gland, digestion, body metabolism. Natural foods: wheatgerm, sunflower seeds.

Zinc component of insulin and many enzymes. Natural foods: wheatgerm, sunflower seeds.

Chromium glucose conversion, insulin activity. Natural foods: eggs, whole grains, cheese.

Vitamin D essential for digestion and metabolism. Natural foods: regular moderate sunlight.

Vitamin B complex, vitamin A and K. 

** Nutrients are measured in milligrams(mg) per 100 gram of food.

Constipation: The Ever-Present Shadow

It is ironic that, despite widespread information about taking care of our exterior selves ─ keeping clean and staying healthy ー we give little though to the value of maintaining health and cleanliness on the inside. Many of us have childhood memories of enemas performed at home, though. There was radio but no television; everything we had was fresh, homemade, and handcrafted. 

  Our diet, of course, was clean and natural and very healthful. It was enriched with fresh cheese, curds, kefir(Kefir or kephir, alternatively milk kefir, or búlgaros, is a fermented milk drink that originated in the north Caucasus Mountains made with kefir "grains", a yeast/bacterial fermentation starter.), the obligatory juices (especially celery, carrot, and sauerkraut!), (Sauerkraut is finely cut cabbage that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria. It has a long shelf life and a distinctive sour flavor, both of which result from the lactic acid that forms when the bacteria ferment the sugars in the cabbage.), various pulses (Pulses include all beans, peas and lentils, such as:
~baked beans.
~red, green, yellow and brown lentils.
~chickpeas (chana or garbanzo beans)
~garden peas.
~black-eyed peas.
~runner beans.
~broad beans (fava beans)
~kidney beans, butter beans (Lima beans), haricots, cannellini beans, flageolet beans, pinto beans and borlotti beans.), honey, and recently baked homemade bread. 
The worst thing for me was the glass of raw milk I had to drink immediately after milking the cow; it tasted too "natural" to me. This is a good moments to begin to rediscover things natural and authentic and incorporate them into our modern lives. 

If the toilet or washbasin in your house is damaged, you naturally do not use it and you call a plumber. You wouldn't think of going into a toilet that was foul-smelling and full of stagnant water with thes excrement floating in it. What if no one comes to help you? 
Then you have to live in these extremely disagreeable conditions, knowing that you can't flush the toilet and eliminate the residues that have accumulated. Imagine you face when you are confronted with such a repulsive scene!

I am sure that in such a situation, you would react by throwing a bucket of water down the toilet (unless, that is, this merely raises the level of the stagnant "lake"), or else you would calling the 24-hour emergency services or asking for help from a friend. You's be dead right to do so!

If you try to apply this solution to your own body's blocked guts yourself, it won't work; you won't discharge the residues that have accumulated. You have to try to stimulate  them from above or from below, without waiting too many days. Agreed?  You just need to learn how to do it and what to use; each of us has his'her own digestive character and sensitivity to laxative remedies. 

Approximately 70 percent of my current consultations are with people who in addition to different health conditions are suffering from chronic constipation. It is such a common and stubborn complaint, and so difficult to treat, that one day I think I will get all my patients together and found a constipation club (I'll probably look for a more attractive and sophisticated name). Then my team would be able to work with groups to help more people with their therapies, good humor, and various exercises. Reeducating people about good hygiene and diet, accompanied by psychological support, will be important parts of this work. if this appeals, come and join us and help me organize it. 

Constipation is a personal, emotional, and social problem, as well as an economic one. Not only is it costly in terms of money spent on laxatives and visits to the doctor but also because of the serious consequences to health that chronic constipation brings, and the bodily toxemia it provokes. Only with a good diet and correct intestinal hygiene (I am referring to transit and microflora) can we prevent cancer of the colon. 

Constipation is a very familiar condition: the majority of us have suffered from constipation on at least one occasion. In fact, recent research has demonstrated that one in seven people suffer from constipation. As well as being a relatively common complaint, it has become a social taboo. Often I am the only witness of this illness, in spite of the fact that the person tells me he has a partner, family, and friends. 

We learn in childhood that the "stomach" can malfunction, and that if this happens you take a laxative. We all have memories of some constipated member of our family. 

Virtues of the Human Digestive System

Welcome to the world of digestion! 

Now is the good moment to decipher the demands of your gut and to create a friendly relationship with your second brain - digestion system.

  Here you can discover the physiological, emotional, and intellectual potential that we have in our human digestive  systems, and to teach you to listen, to learn from, and to work with your gut. When you do this, it will bring purely digestive benefits and also lead to physical, psychological, and emotional well-being. Through this trip , there will be various stops at particular points of interest.

  The average adult's digestive tract has a total length of 8 to 12 meters (25 to 40 feet). It is long (about the height of two-storey building) and also wide. The total area of your intestines spread out flat in two dimensions would cover 300 square meters (3000 sq.ft.) That means you are carrying the equivalent  area of a tennis court hidden in your gut! 

Over a lifetime, approximately 7- tons of food and 100 tons of liquid pass through your digestive system. Your gut is able to process, analyze, absorb, and eliminate this industrial quantity without breakdown or the need for replacement parts ― if, that is, it is treated well. That is a big if , as we so often mistreat our own , one and only, digestive systems, even though they are alerting us to alterations in their normal functioning by sending us signal and warnings that they are in urgent need of "service."

  The human digestive system has a spectacular design. 

One example: the inner lining of the small intestine is "folded" into thousands of villi and on the surface of these are thousands of microvilli (smaller folds). 

Under a microscope, the lining of the small intestine looks like a dense brush or a piece of velvet fabric. These anatomical intricacies enable the mucosa to completely absorb all the vital nutrients in our food and exert inmmunological control ― 70 percent of the total immune defences of the body are found in the belly. 

The Digestive Brain Concept in Eastern Philosophies

In Eastern medicine the human belly has long been viewed as the vital center of the human organism. Traditional world medication and their treatises on the human digestive system comprise an enormously wide-ranging subject, however, we can briefly mention here some of these philosophies to give just a  taste of how authentic wisdom integrates the human being in all its aspects : physical, spiritual, and energetic. 

  Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) recognizes the gut as the dantian, loosely translated as the "navel area, the center of energy, the sea of qi." Qi is the vital energy, force, or impulse, similar to prana in Indian culture, pneuma in classical Greek, and ĕlan vital in the term coined by the French philosopher Henri Bengson. 

  The Indian traditional of healing locates the 3rd of the seven chakras, or energy "wheels," in the same place as the intestinal brain. The 3rd, or solar plexus, chakra ( manipura, or "shining jewel"), is located in the middle of the torso, in the diaphragm area above the navel, at the human body's center of gavity. This is where Universal Life is expressed as Existential Life; it is the center of the human being, body and soul. In contrast to the energy controlled by willpower or "doing," the TCM qi in the belly is "felt" and "allowed to come." Ideally, we should be in contact with this center ( the gut itself) and concentrate its energy. 

  In Japanese martial arts, the hara, like the Chinese dantian above, represent "the belly, man's center of being, the sea of qi." This is where the Japanese expression hara kiri comes from, traditionally a form of ritual suicide among Japanese samurai warriors but literally meaning "belly-cutting" or severing the energy of being. 

  The be "hara-centered" is equivalent to an optimal state of health and integration of all the bodily systems, longevity, and well-being. it leads to a general state of serenity and profound calm, awareness, reason, personal power, and balanced action. This state can be achieved through meditation and psychophysical disciplines, including tai chi, qigong( chi kung), or hatha yoga. 

  Those who have a well-developed hara can do many things without any apparent effort, while at the same time remaining calm, patient observers who do not feel the need to intervene, even if they are not in agreement. Those who know the art of of hara ( haragei,腹芸）in Japanese is “the art of the stomach.” ) are immediately conscious of when they leave the "just center" and fall under the influence of the egocentric self; and quite naturally, without any effort, they are able to return to their center. Those with weak hara have fragile health, get angry easily, and lose their temper easily; when faced with adversity, they quickly lose their self-control. The psychosomatic expression "to be centered," or in contact with our internal energy, has a lot to do with having a balanced digestive system in the language of Western medicine perspective. 

  The human body is a true treasure available to us, but it only works fully if we respect it and let it act as it needs to, without submitting it to external aggression that knock it off balance. 

We live in the most narcissistic society in human history/ Cultivating our image has become a social requirement, but we often forget our interior life. In our hygienic and aseptic society, which desperately seek a high-quality lifestyle and maximum satisfaction, there is no sense in not looking inwards and being aware of our own bodies. This is why the posts of common sense like Healthy Wealth is essential, not just for its therapeutic contribution but also for its educational approach, showing us what we have chosen to ignore and encouraging us to embark on a healthier lifestyle, leading to a real sensation of well-being and vital hygiene. 

THE ART OF THE STOMACH AND PITFALLS IN COMMUNICATING WITH THE JAPANESE

Haragei （腹芸）in Japanese is “the art of the stomach.” Many Japanese people have not heard of this expression, but all Japanese are surely familiar with what it represents. Haragei is the art of understanding what someone means in conversation without his or her having to say it aloud. Haragei also means conveying meaning without explicitly saying it.

Japanese society is highly homogenous. People share a common history, culture, religion and language, and this makes implicit communication like haragei possible. In Japan, haragei represents refined, intelligent, educated and mature conversation and communication. To speak directly is the opposite—brusque, unrefined, uneducated, and immature. People who communicate directly in Japan are for the mostpart children.

You may have noticed that Japanese people can seem exceedingly circumspect or indirect when speaking. In Japanese culture, as in Japanese communication, people tend to avoid conflict and seek harmony. Harmony or wa (和) is so important a tenet in Japan society, that wa in Japanese is another way of saying “Japanese.”

In contrast to haragei, communicating in English is all about being direct and explicit. We value people who say what they mean and mean what they say. Perhaps this is because American society is not homogenous, but rather a melting pot of people with different backgrounds, cultures, histories and religions. In America, many people speak a different language at home. Precision and conciseness in American conversation is essential if we are to understand each other.

A grasp of English vocabulary and grammar does not necessarily mean a grasp of how to communicate in English. Have you ever had a conversation with a Japanese person in English, but you have no idea what he or she is talking about? This is what haragei sounds like in English. It can rub us the wrong way, and may even call our trust in that person into question. Similarly, the way we speak in English, in direct and bold terms, can rub the Japanese the wrong way, coming off as childlike, arrogant, and even belligerent.


Mastering haragei is part of mastering communication with the Japanese. At a minimum, it is useful to be aware of haragei. Beware of tendencies to judge people on how they communicate, not just for what they say. What is polite, refined and sincere to one may seem the opposite to the other. Whether negotiating with with a transaction partner or communicating with staff, beware of perceiving the worst whereas both parties may be competent, sincere and filled with the best intentions.

Managing from the Belly . CLICK HERE TO LOOK INSIDE.

Get To Know Yourself : Your Digestive Intelligence

Your human body is your vehicle. It needs to be checked and serviced for road-worthiness; it needs good clean fuel; and it needs to be properly treated. To know your problems and take good care of your health should be as essential as working or having a bank account.  We should give the same importance to preventing ill health as we do to preventing bankruptcy.

  Our health can and should be of interest to us. I am here to encourage you to rise to the challenge of taking small but constant steps toward a healthy 'wealth' lifestyle ─ to discover your own " digestive intelligence."

  The first thing to say is that we all have a second "brain," one that lies hidden deep inside our gut ─ a honed and powerful intelligence at our core, in the center of our bodies. 


It may seem strange, but it is important that we work with this intelligence, so that we can learn how to decipher the message it sends us. My aim is to introduce you to the pleasure  of recognizing, learning about, and respecting your own digestive system ─ that marvelous and powerful being that occupies almost all the space inside you. Whether you make it a friend who helps and serves you happily or you mistreat it daily haphazardly is your decision.

  Treated well, the digestive system knows how to repair itself . It will start showing its appreciation for any positive changes you make within 15 hours, including changing to a better healthier diet or giving it the needful care it needs. Yes, it is true that the same system can put up with months and years of mistreatment of abuse without complaining much, but if you want to have a good quality of life it is important to have a good working digestion. 

  This blog-site's aim is to provide you with basic, up-to-date understanding of your digestive system, so that you can help your doctor to diagnose your problems. If you do this, you will give your doctor the pleasure of communicating wit an intelligent patient-client who knows how to be precise in his complaints and who applies the basic preventive measures in his daily life. You have to treat the patient not the illness ─ to search for the root of the problem, not just patch up the symptoms.

  Holistic medicine study and approach involves, primarily, the application of natural and less damaging methods of treatment to correct and coordinate the functions of all the body's systems. From day one, successful holistic treatment requires introducing changes in nutrition and hygiene and REEDUCATING (FOR EMPHASIS) the patient about how their human body works best. At the same time, however, holistic doctors work within the sphere of conventional medicine, and stay up to date on the latest medical breakthrough knowledge, so that they can make accurate diagnosis of disease and choose the correct and appropriate allopathic treatments involving drugs or equipment, if required. This skilled combination of allopathic and complementary modalities is the medicine of the future.